Euro-Zone Inflation Weakens in December

Weak Price Growth May Hinder Efforts to Cut Debt

European Central Bank officials continued to insist the currency area isn't threatened by deflation, as figures released Thursday confirmed the rate at which consumer prices rose slowed in December.

The European Union's statistics agency Thursday confirmed its preliminary estimates of December price movements, which were released last week. Eurostat said consumer prices rose 0.3% from November, and were up 0.8% from December 2012....